Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.

1. These writ petitions are being heard together and decided by a common order, as the issue is the same in the two petitions. For the sake of convenience, however, the facts referred here in this order have been taken from WPMS No. 792 of 2016.

2. The petitioners are the Members of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and belong to the Indian National Congress party. They have primarily challenged the show cause notice dated 19.03.2016 given by the Speaker of the House (respondent No. 1), which is annexure No. 1 to the writ petition. The notice seeks an explanation from the petitioners as to why they should not be disqualified as Members of the Assembly and the petitioners have to give their reply to this show cause notice by 05:00 p.m. on 26.03.2016.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners would argue that the notice is given under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India, which reads as under:-

“2. Disqualification on ground of defection –

(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5, a member of a House belonging to any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House –

(a) if he has volun